An attorney for the general contractor hired to rebuild Palo Alto's Mitchell Park Library and Community Center claims the city is responsible for cost overruns and delays that have dogged the project.

According to a six-page letter received Monday by the City Clerk's Office, the city owes Flintco Pacific Inc. "millions," in part because it misrepresented the accuracy and completeness of plans and specifications for the project when it released them for bidding in 2010.

"Flintco expects the evidence will show that the city's actions were intended to shift blame for project cost overruns and delays to Flintco while covering up the fact that the plans and specifications were incomplete and inaccurate," Arthur G. Woodward of Sacramento-based Downey Brand Attorneys LLP wrote to Senior Assistant City Attorney Cara Silver.

The city fired Flintco in mid-January, citing inadequate progress, lack of staffing, faulty work and missed deadlines. Big-D Pacific Builders has since been hired to finish the project.

City Attorney Molly Stump said she is reviewing Woodward's letter and plans to issue a formal response within the next 45 days.

"An initial comment would be that it's not surprising to get this claim," Stump told The Daily News in a phone interview. "It's consistent with Flintco's conduct throughout the contract, which is a continual effort to shift the blame for its lack of effectiveness on the site to others."

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According to the letter, the city issued more than 2,000 clarifications of the contract documents and over 200 architect's supplemental instructions. In response, Flintco submitted upward of 500 change-order requests, or CORs, for more time and money but they were denied by the city.

"Due to the city's improper denial of CORs, Flintco financed a significant portion of the extra work performed on the project in a good faith effort to complete the project," wrote Woodward, adding that the total cost to Flintco and its subcontractors exceeded $10 million more than the approved contract.

The letter also alleges that the city knew the library and community center would cost more than Flintco's bid of approximately $24.4 million. The price tag, according to the city, has ballooned to $28 million, which is still $4 million less than a city engineer's estimate.

"Flintco's continued reliance on the inaccurate plans and specifications during the course of construction resulted in project delays and increased costs which would have been avoided had the city waited until the plans and specifications were complete before it sent them to the bidders," Woodward wrote.

When finished, the 56,000-square-foot Mitchell Park Library and Community Center will feature shelving for collection expansion, as well as large flexible spaces, including rooms for children, computer training and reading. Ada's Café, a nonprofit organization that provides disabled adults with jobs and job training, will also operate a coffee shop at the facility.

The project, which was originally scheduled to open in summer 2012, is the centerpiece of Measure N, a $76 million bond measure passed in 2008 to overhaul the city's library system.

"Progress is being made," said Stump, adding that the library and community center are on track to open by the end of the year.

"Big-D, the replacement contractor, is really effective and everybody is working well out there at the site now."